“This is your doing, O God; it is marvelous in our eyes.”
Psalm 118:23
The Holy Bible Baptist Church (HBBC) is a vibrant, faith-filled, and Christ-centered community. From the humblest and tiniest of beginnings, we are today
a dynamic and growing congregation. We know that we have not finished our spiritual journey. We yearn to do more
and we hunger to do more.
On July 1, 1985, Rev. Dieudonné Raymond and
Sister Claire Rose decided to seek God's wisdom in prayer for some difficult matters. They prayed for forty
days. To believers, a period of forty days is symbolic and sacred. It is a time of yearning and seeking,
a time of testing and learning to wait on God. It is a time to pray without ceasing. At the end of the forty days, they
did not get the answers they expected. However, they were convinced that a new mission work was to be planted
in the Boston area, although Rev. Raymond's plan was to pursue his seminary education before he could pastor a
church. Six months later, along with Mrs. Yolene Raymond, the Pastor's wife, sister Denise Louidor and his
son Luc, sister Gretch Horatius, little Diny Raymond and Eunice Belacy and many more, they, by the grace of God,
gave birth to what we call today: The Holy Bible Baptist Church.
On February 16, 1986, they started that journey very small with merely seventeen
worshipers in total. They met in the living room of Pastor Raymond’s Cambridge apartment. Though small in
number, they were a faithful, devoted, and ardent congregation, holding two services on Sunday and meeting during the week
for Bible study and prayer. However, they were able to meet in the Pastor’s apartment for only three months.
On May 19, 1986, Rev. Raymond received a formal notice from his landlord, ordering him to cease having church
services in his apartment or else face eviction. Pastor Raymond and his congregation began a period of intense prayer
that week asking the Lord to show him the way. And He did. On Friday of that same week, the Lord put in his heart
to go knocking at the door of the New England Baptist Church in Medford Square. Gladly and without hesitation, they
opened their
doors on Sunday May 25, 1986 to the fledgling congregation, sharing her space of worship with them for
the next nine years. Rev. Thomas Michael will forever be remembered in the HBBC’s history.
On the 3rd Sunday of September 1986, the Holy Bible
Baptist Church was formally constituted as an incorporated institution. On that day, they began their journey as a pilgrim
people, en route together to fulfill the mission to spread the good news of the Gospel and God’s goodness
to all mankind.
The Church grew rapidly during the early
1990s. In October 1989 the first choir was established with thirty members strong. In May 1990, the HBBC Women’s
Association was established. In November 1992, the HBBC Youth Association was founded and, in December of that year,
the Men’s Association was established.
By
late 1994, the original congregation of 17 members had grown to 120 members and it was clear that it was again time
to seek a larger worship space. At that time, St. Paul Evangelical Church of Somerville was building a new church in
Lexington and needed a suitable buyer for their old premises. On March 8, 1995, the sale of St. Paul Evangelical Church
was finalized and the Holy Bible Baptist Church acquired the property. Once again the congregation moved, this time
to 45 College Avenue in Somerville.
The move to Somerville proved
to be a very blessed one for the Church where it has fostered tremendous growth to the point where HBBC had to hold
two services on Sunday morning since 2004. By 2009, the congregation had grown to about 500 members and is still growing.
Now the place has become significantly too small to accommodate HBBC’s expanding membership.
Throughout her history, the Holy Bible Baptist Church has remembered the significant
periods of its spiritual journey. Each year, the third week in September is set aside as the Anniversary Week, commemorating
the incorporation of the Church. Also each year, from July 1 to August 9, this spiritual community joins together for
forty days of prayer to commemorate the 1986 founding of the Church. During that time, the church comes before the Lord
with all kinds of prayers and requests (Eph.6:18) followed by thanksgivings and praise for all the things He has
done and He is going to do.
